Speeches by MacDonald.

“I am proud to represent Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire. My colleague, my hon. Friend the Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jamie Stone), could not be here, but, on the subject of centralisation, our nearest maternity hospital is in Inverness, which is four hours each way from parts of Sutherland, A…”

“The share price of Diageo is down by two thirds, that of Pernod Ricard has halved—the whisky industry is in a difficult place. In the Budget, the duty added to a normal bottle was 32p, taking the total duty on a bottle of spirits up to £9.18. Does the Minister not think that we are plucking the golden goose once too of…”

“Would the Minister spare a minute to talk about community benefits?”

“I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Bath (Wera Hobhouse) on securing this important debate. Much of what I was going to say has been mentioned, but I want to reiterate a few things. How can it be that households on renewable electricity pay four times as much as those who get fossil fuel gas? That is inappropr…”

“Thank you very much.”

“Will the Minister allow me to intervene?”

“I beg to move amendment 66, in clause 63, page 68, line 10, leave out “£32.79” and insert “£31.64”.”

“The amendment would mean the relevant rate of duty would be unchanged from last year. I am one of the few MPs from Scotland on the Committee, but I am sure I am not alone in understanding the vital importance of the Scotch whisky industry not just to Scotland but to the UK economy. However, it bears repeating just how …”

“In that case, I will not, Ms Vaz.”

“I do not have a great deal to add. I did miss out, when we declared our interests earlier, the fact that I own a pub, which hon. Members are very welcome to visit when they are next in Fort William—do not all rush at once. It never rains there. I want to come back, briefly, to the 1p a pint reduction that we were promi…”

“I have finished my remarks.”

“LPG is not the issue; electricity, along with kerosene, is largely the issue. Very few people use LPG to heat their properties or businesses. It is electricity where the taxes are. I would be delighted to share information; I am doing a big thing about it shortly, so I have done a lot of research.”

“I support what the shadow Minister said, almost word for word. My career has been in business, and in my two days sitting in the Committee, I have been appalled by what seems to be tax increase upon tax increase. Small and medium-sized businesses across the UK are on their knees and we have done a catastrophic job sinc…”

“As always, I speak on behalf of the highland industries. In rural areas, only electricity and kerosene are available; mains gas is not. Electricity users pay four times more for their energy than mains gas users, so a hotel on the island of Skye may pay £80,000, whereas one in a city may pay £20,000. That causes enormo…”

“Yes. Question put, That the amendment be made.”

“Will the Minister comment on whether, when the Government fix all these additional taxes, they take into account what happens in Scotland, where many in the hospitality industry do not get business rate relief? We are getting it twice on exactly the same issue.”

“May I intervene?”

“Did the Minister consider the different legislation in Scotland, where we have short-term letting licences, visitor tax and a whole load of extra legislation coming in, which is making it difficult and reducing the amount of holiday letting available? How relevant is the proposal for Scotland?”

“Will the Minister consider the fact that the increase in national insurance has harmed many companies that have really struggled? An increase in the top rate of income tax or capital gains tax would at least have hit organisations that are making proper profits and proper money.”

“My point was really about the cumulative effect of many different taxes and restrictions making it more and more difficult for people in the letting business, which is crucial to the economy of tourist areas.”